Coal-chute gate



July 16, 1929. w, E, How 1.720.677

COAL CHUTE GATE Filed Jan. 17, 1927 & l

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Patented July 16, 1929.

1,720,677 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. HOWLETT, 0F MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 HOWLETT CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COAL-CHUTE GATE.

Application filed Janualy 17, 1927.

This invention relates to a coal chute gate. Although it has been developed primarily for chutes for coating locomotives, it is not necessarily limited to this use as it may be also employed .in connection with chutes for delivering crushed rock, building materials and the like that are to be loaded from storage bins.

The problem of providing the proper kind of a gate for closing the discharge opening of coal chutes is one that is beset with many diilieulties. The gate must be one that can be opened easily by a fireman from his posi tion on the coal tender which is drawn under the chute when the engine is stopped. The construction must be such as to prevent the fireman from manipulating the gate so as to get only desirable sizes of coal withouttaking his share of the smaller pieces and the dust or slack. Another important feature is that the gate should positively and in variably close without depending upon the fireman to close it. The coal is heavy, it is often. in large chunks, and the flow is fairly rapid. If the gate sticks because of large lumps or because it will not move through the rapidly flowing and heavy material so that the gate remains open or partially open, the material will continue to flow out, thereby becoming a source of danger as well as causing a loss of time and money in having to pick up the coal and return it to the storage bin. Gates have been. devised, called undercut gates, which. move upwardly through the. flowing coal to close the opening. One of the difiiculties with these is that the fireman may lower the gate to only a partially opened position and thereby let the larger lumps of coal flow out without taking any of the slack. Another type of gate is known as the overcut gate. This gate moves downwardly from the top of the chute and perpendicular to the flow of coal to close the opening. One of the difficulties with this type that it tends to let out the slack when it is raised and holds the lumps from flowing. It is also difiicult to close owing to the fact that the gate may stick on lumps of coal between its edge and the bottom of the chute. Another type of gate is the divided gate which is made of two parts which move toward one another from the sides of the discharge opening. One of the difiiculties "ith this type that when the two parts move toward one another they may be Serial No. 161,484.

blocked against complete closure by lumps of coal lodging between the edges of the gates as they move to closed position. A difiiculty with most of these types is that they cannot be used with a closed chute, that is, one that has a top which prevents snow 'and ice from getting into the chute. Other expedients which have been employed are the use of discharge bins or buckets which contain only a limited amount of coal, all of which dumped out of the bin at the time a locomotive being coaled. These are relatively expcnfve and not entirely satisfactory.

The present invention has been devised to overcome the. above difiiculties and to provide a gate that will close the discharge passage under all conditions and at the same time. prevent the fireman from taking only the best mixture of coal.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved gate for discharge chutes.

A more particular object is to provide an improved gate for a coal chute which is simple and inexpensive, yet one which will positively close the discharge opening in the chute and prevent its being manipulated to pick outthe best coal and keep the finer material in the bin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a chute showing the improved gate in closed position Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation similar to Fig. 1 showing the gate in open position;

Fig. 3 is a section of the operating means taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section on the line 4- of Fig. 3 showing the connection between the operating lever and the shaft carrying the gate.

The gate is shown in connection with a storage bin 10 containing a body of coal or other material 11. Connected to the bin at the discharge opening therein is a chute 12 which, in the form shown, comprises a metal. spout of rectangular cross section having a top as well as a bottom, although the top may be omitted if desired. This chute discharges into a spout 13 that is mounted so that it may be swung both laterally and horizontally by the fireman to guide the coal to the proper spot.

Mounted near the top side of the chute and at a point removed from its discharge opening is a choker plate 14 in the form of a flat plate extending across the top of the passage to the chute as illustrated in the drawings. The coal assumes a definite angle of repose when stationary in the bin and chute and an angle of flow as it moves out. The choker plate is positioned to partly block the flow and to insure that the coal will be discharged in a relatively thin stream so that it will never be flowing out of the F discharge opening in a stream of thickness equal to the depth of the chute. Fixed to a horizontal shaft 15 which is journaled in bearings 17 fixed to the sides of the chute near its bottom and at its forward end, is a gate 16 comprising a fiat metal plate of such size as to partly close the discharge opening as illustrated in Fig. 1. The, gate normally occupies the inclined position shown in Fig. l, but may be moved to the position of Fig.

2. It carries an angle stop 18 that strikes the bottom of the spout 13 to limit its opening movement. It will be observed that the gate is, in effect, a part of the bottom of the chute when the gate is open, the upper side of the chute extending farther forward than the bottom up to the point where the bottom joins the gate.

An operating lever 20 is pivoted on the shaft 15, said lever being yoke-shaped and having its lower ends journaled on the shaft 15 on opposite sides of the chute. The lever has a lower extension 21 to which weights 22 are connected for the purpose of normally urging the lever to the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The operating lever may be pulled by the fireman from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2 by means of a cord or cable 23 attached to a stationary bar.

The operating lever 20 has a lost motion connection with the gate shaft 15 which includes a sleeve 25 fixed to the shaft 15. In the form shown, the sleeve is held on the shaft by a set screw 26 and it has an arcuate lug 27 that projects into an arcuate slot 28 in the hub of the operating lever 20. The arcuate lug 27 is slightly shorter than the slot 28 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The purpose of this is to permit the weights 22 to gain momentum before acting to close the gate. For example, when the operator is holding the gate open by means of the cable 23, the

parts occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 4. If the operator releases the handle 24, the weights act immediately to swing the operating lever 20 which moves through a slight distance corresponding to the difference between the width of lug 27 and the slot 28. During this movement the weights have only to move the operating lever which offers slight resistance and they gain momentum after which the edge of the slot 28 strikes the lug 27 and picks up the gate with considerable suddenness and force to close it against the stream of coal. flowing out of the chute.

In describing the operation of the gate it will be more convenient to start with the gate in its open condition as illustrated in Fig. 2.

In the open position of the gate, the coal flows out over the gate into thespout 13 from which it is discharged. lttlows in a relative thin stream compared with the thickness of the chute 12. Although it is possible for the operator to hold the gate at different angles, such procedure will. not result in permitting a selection of only the derable lumps of coal for in order to get any substantial flow the gate has to be in the position of Fig. 2. If it is pulled to only a partially open position it tends to block the entire flow. The angle of friction of coal. on steel is approximately 2S'degrees. The bottom of the chute is located at an angle slightly greater than 28, preferably about 30 to 32, and, when the gate is open. it occupies a. position substantially in line with the bottom of the chute. t will be readily appreciated that the four degrees difference offers little opportunity to any flow of the coal on the bottom of the chute until the gate is entirely open. However, when the gate is entirely open, the coal slips on the steel and, in so doing, all of the coal moves, that is, the slack as well as the lumps siides down on the bottom of the chute. No flow of the top coal over the lower coal can be obtained by holding the gate in partially open position because of the angle of friction of coal on coal. This angle between and degrees whereas the angle with the horizontal of a line between the lower edge of the choker plate 14 and the top of the gate when it is open is less than degrees. it would be still less with the gate only partially open. 1 I

What actually happens in practice that, when the gate is first moved toward open position, the coal that was pushed up in the previous closing of the gate, such as the coal 29 in Fig.1, drops out after which there no movement of the coal until the g, tep ractically reaches its full open position. This not only has the advantage of preventing a fireman from choosing only the most desirable mixture of coal, but it also makes possible a stopping of the flow by a short easy movement of the gate. U

lVhen the operator has obtained sufficient coal for his purposes he simply releases the cable 23 whereupon the weights 22 swing the operating lever a short distance and gain momentum after which the gate is picked up and quickly and forcibly moved against the flowing coal. The weights 22 areinade sulficiently heavy to insure that the gates will be closed with sufficient force to push as much as necessary of the fuel backwards. This results in piling up some of the coal as illustrated at 29 in Fig. 1, and one of the features of the gate is that by providing the choker plate 14 an open space is provided so that when the gate closes there is room for the coal to push up to the posit-ion illustrated in F 1. At the same time the chute may be closed at the top to prevent snow and ice collecting in the chute. The gate cannot be blocked or stuck by the coal.

because it does not move in such a direction as permit obstruct-ion. It moves against the flow of coal rather than through it. In etl ect, the forward end o'l the bottom oi the chute is simply angled upward sulliciently to stop the flow. This action is aided by the choker plate which blocks the top of the stream and. l aves a space for the coal to be pushed up.

It is to be understood that the construction shown is'lor purposes ot illustration only and that variations may be made in it without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a chute having a discharge opening, a choker plate positioned in said chute near the top thereof, and a gate pivoted near the bottom and toward the discharge end of said chute on a substantially horizontal axis to swing up.- wardly against the flow of material from said chute, said choker plate and gate being positioned relative to each other so that. they combine to block discharge of material when said gate is moved upwardly to a slightly inclined position.

2. In a device of the class described, a chute having its top side closed and being provided with a discharge opening at its end, a choker plate in the top of the chute passage, and a gate pivoted on a substantially horizontal axis near the bottom of the discharge end of said chute, said gate being movable to a position substantially parallel with the bottom of said chute to permit discharge of material and upwardly to an inclined position to prevent said discharge, the choker plate and gate being positioned relative to one another so that they combine to prevent discharge of material when the gate is moved only to a slightly inclined position.

3. In a device of the class described, a chute having a discharge opening, a choker plate positioned in said chute near the top thereof. and a gate pivoted near the bottom of the discharge end of said chute on a substantially horizontal axis, means for urging said gate to an inclined position such that it combines with the choker plate to prevent discharge of material through said chute,

said gate being movable to a position substantially parallel with the bottom of the chute to permit discharge of material, said choker plate being positioned relative to the gate so that the gate must be substantially in its fully opened position to permit material to discharge whereby discharge of material is prevented upon a slight upward movement of the gate.

at. In a. device of the class described, a chute forming a passage having a discharge opening, a gate for said opening pivoted on a substantially horizontal axis near the torward lower side of said chute, means for urging said gate to a position to close the opening in said chute, means for overcoming the torce of said urging means and for moving the gate to a position to permit the dis charge of material, and connections bet-ween said gate and said urging and operating means such that, when the operating means is released, the urging means can move a limited distance to gain momentum before being operatively connected to move said gate.

5. In a device of the class described. a chute having a passage therethrough and a discharge opening, a gate pivoted near the lower lorward side of said chute on a substantially horizontal axis, a lever having means connected to it for urging it in one direction, an operating device connected to said lever for moving it in the other direction,.and a lost motion connection between said lever and said gate such that, when the operating means is released when the gate is in open position, the urging means may move the lever a limited distance to gain momentum after which it connects with the gate to quickly move the latter to closed position against the force of the material flow ing out of the discharge opening.

6. In a device of the class described, a chute having a discharge passage and a discharge opening, a choker plate near the top side of said passage and removed from the discharge end thereof, a gate piv'oted near the discharge end and on the lower side of said chute on a substantially horizontal axis, operating means for said gate tending to normally urge it to closed position but being movable to and holdable in position to permit. discharge of material, and connections between said operating means and said gate whereby, when the operator releases the operating means, it will operate a shortdistance tree of said gate and then pick up the gate and move it to closed position.

7. In a device of the class described, a chute having a passage therethrough and a discharge opening, a gate pivoted on a sub stantially horizontal axis near the discharge opening to swing upwardly to close the opening, and a choker plate positioned in the passage in said chute with its obstructing edge Located so that the angle with the horizontal of a line from said edge to the discharge edge of the gate when the latter is in open position is less than the angle for frictional flow on itself of the material to be discharged.

8. In a device of the class described, a chute having a discharge opening, the bottom of said chute being positioned at an angle to the horizontal which is slightly greater than the angle for frictional flow on the chute bottom of the material being discharged, a gate pivoted near the discharge opening on a substantially horizontal axis to swing upwardly from a position substantially in line with the bottom of the chute to an inclined position to block the discharge opening, and a choker plate in the upper part of the chute opening, said choker plate being located to the rear of the discharge opening in a position such that a line from its obstructing edge to the discharge edge of the gate when the latter is open is less than the angle for frictional flow on itself of the material being discharged.

9. In a device of the class described, a chute having a bottom, aclosed topside and a discharge opening, the bottom of said chute being positioned at an angle to the horizontal slightly greater than the angle for frictional flow on the chute bottom of the material to be discharged, a gate pivoted near the discharge opening to swing upwardly from a position substantially in line with the bottom of the chute to an inclined position to partially close the discharge opening, and a choker plate having an obstructing edge below the plane of the top side of the chute, said choker plate being positioned relative to the gate so that a line from the obstructing edge of the plate to the discharge edge of the gate forms an angle with the horizontal which is less than the angle for frictional flow on itself of the material to be discharged.

10. In adevice of the class described, a chute having a discharge opening, the bottom of said chute being positioned at an angle with the horizontal of about 32, a gate pivoted near the discharge opening to swing upwardly from a position substantially in line with the bottom of the chute to an inclined position to block the discharge opening, and a choker plate in said chute, said choker plate being positioned so that a line from its obstructing edge to the discharge edge of the gate when the latter is open is less than 45.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

WILLIAM E. HOIVLETT. 

